'Aly & AJ' back as '78violet'

Euronews

After five years away from the music scene, singing sister duo Aly and AJ Michalka have returned with a new sound and a single – ‘Hothouse’.

They collaborated with music producer David Kahne, who has worked with artists including Paul McCartney, Lana Del Rey and The Strokes.

Aly Michalka said they gained a lot from the hiatus: “We took a huge break from music for a while. We kind of used that time to really figure out who we are as artists. I think that because we got signed at such a young age and had such great success, that we kind of needed to step back and just recap on what moments were great about that and what moments we wanted to take further, and just how we wanted to progress as artists. So for us, we took this five years and we just wrote.”

Before their break, the sisters performed under the name ‘Aly & AJ’ but since leaving the Disney music label ‘Hollywood’ they call themselves '78violet'.

They grew up surrounded by music so singing, playing instruments and songwriting together was a natural next step.

AJ Michalka, said music has always been a major part of their lives: “It was pretty natural to just perform together, whether it was putting on a play or singing at church plays or school. I can’t really remember not singing. I started when I was like three and you [Aly] were five and then around six years old we both started playing the piano. Eight years ago we probably picked up the guitar. That’s when we really started writing.”

They are currently looking for a new label to release their upcoming album, which they describe as ‘alternative indie pop’ set to a movie soundtrack.